A bit lethargic but is eating now.

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RarestDragon

Hatchling Member
Okay, I posted a few months ago with concerns about my dragon being extremely active but not eating. About a month ago she began to slow down. Then for the past three weeks she's been almost lethargic. She still moves around, especially when she wants to go under her log. Sometimes she'll scratch. I've been wondering if she's gravid and about to lay eggs but I made a lay box for her and she doesn't dig at all when I put her in it. I also don't feel any eggs. It's almost like she was going back into brumation.

A couple days ago, I got her to eat some roaches. Three large, fat ones. Two were covered in calcium powder. Today I got her to eat a two more large ones, also covered in calcium. She also munches on her collard greens once in a while. It may seem pretty small, but it's more food than she's eaten in the past few months.

The reason I'm concerned is that she has lost a bit of weight since February. She was 448 grams in February. Now she's 410 grams. I would have expected her to have lost more since between February and the end of May, she had been running around her cage and my room almost non-stop. Her weight loss has been slow, but noticeable. She still has a good belly on her and the fat pads on her head are still formed. She also drinks water just fine and is clearly not dehydrated. She pooped a week ago. It wasn't very big, since she hasn't been eating, but it was fairly normal. Didn't smell super bad, the urate was formed and moist.

I'm watching her closely for another poop now that she's eaten a little. Sometimes she's still lazing around and nearly sleeping while other times she's up and alert. I can't feel any eggs in her. The last time I took her to the vet, she was all clear for parasites. She's been a little more alert these past few days than previously. I suppose it's worth mentioning that she's going into shed. Also, she turned a year old on May 3rd. She bask every day, her uvb bulb was changed last month, it's a reptisun 10.0 that sits under the mesh about eight inches from her if she's on her basking log. Her basking spot is about 95-100 degrees. Hot side is about 85, cool side is around 75-78.

Does anybody else know what's going on? Is this happening to anybody else? I'm relieved that she's eating more but I'm still worried.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Have you tested for parasites/ worms? If you can get a fecal into the vet and have them test it just to rule it out
Karrie
 

RarestDragon

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":2neayt0i said:
Have you tested for parasites/ worms? If you can get a fecal into the vet and have them test it just to rule it out
Karrie

Last time I took her to the vet, which was a couple months ago, he couldn't find any parasites. And she eats roaches from my own personal colony. Dubia roaches aren't known to carry pinworms.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
That is correct -- dubias are great for a staple!!! :) ok so parasites are out!! And the UVB is a tube correct? Ok other than eggs I really dont know either -- how ever she is losing weight -- someone else is gonna haft to weigh on on this --- others w/ more experience will haft to chime in
Karrie
 

RarestDragon

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Yep, it's a reptisun 10.0 two foot long tube that, like I mentioned, sits about eight inches away from her if she's on her basking log.
 

RarestDragon

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Okay, she ate a little more today and is more alert. Only two roaches but they had vitamin powder on them, which makes me happy. I'd still like to know what's going on, though.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

They sure do know how to worry us all to death!
Do you have any pictures of her along with your tank setup we could see, just so we can
view the lighting placement, etc?
How long did she brumate for, or was it possibly just a partial slowdown?
Since she is losing some weight, you might want to try & supplement her with a little bit of
other foods, maybe some waxworms or superworms perhaps. That's good she has eaten a
little here lately.
They can sometimes get picky with their eating, most likely just boredom. It is possible that
she could be developing eggs but not sure. When they do usually they will gain some weight,
then stop eating right before they lay. Also, when they come out of brumation, it can sometimes
take a little while to zap totally out of it.
You can try some bee pollen on her greens to see if that helps out her appetite some, too.

Tracie
 

RarestDragon

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
90684-7897568484.jpg

90684-6497615655.jpg

Her setup has been like that since I got her when she was a month or so old. Last time I visited the vet, he said she was a very healthy dragon. Better than most he sees.

Update on her, she was running around her cage and pushing against the glass, wanting to get out. Usually that means she has to poop because she doesn't like to poop in her enclosure. I didn't want her pooping in my room so I didn't let her out. I'm thinking about taking advantage of that behavior though and put her in her lay box(it's a very big one) and let her poop in there. Then once she's done I'll scoop out the poop and all the sand it touches.

90684-3218496526.jpg

Her poop is a good size. Solid, normal urate. Overall, a good sign for me.

Though yesterday she gave me a scare because she started to make gulping motions. Not like stretching her beard, I mean little gulps. Along with the gulps there would be a little click sound every time she did it. I got worried it was a URI but I listened to her breathing and there was no clicking when she breathed. Then when I was about to post on here she started to rub her mouth against her log. Then I remembered she was shedding. Not everywhere, but her mouth was one place that was shedding so the gulps were most likely her trying to break it loose.

To answer your questions, Drache, she went into brumation around mid to late December. She was 8 months old at the time. It was a lighter brumation, she wasn't completely asleep for half of it. Then she came out of brumation early February. Near the mid of February is when she began to run around as if she were trying to win a medal, but wouldn't eat at all. Eventually she would eat a bite or two of collard greens once a week maybe, but was still incredibly active despite not eating much. Her birthday came and went on May 3rd. Then early June she would just hang out on her basking spot all day and sleep nearly all the time. If it was too warm for her then she'd slip underneath her log, sometimes for half of the day, then come out to bask again. This lasted for two or three weeks. Then a few days ago she ate a few bugs and has been eating a few every day since. Not as much as I'd like but they were nice, fat dubias covered in calcium or vitamins so even two of those would be a decent meal for her.

I've never been this confused over anything.
 

RarestDragon

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Drache613":wp9h7ni0 said:
Hello,

They sure do know how to worry us all to death!
Do you have any pictures of her along with your tank setup we could see, just so we can
view the lighting placement, etc?
How long did she brumate for, or was it possibly just a partial slowdown?
Since she is losing some weight, you might want to try & supplement her with a little bit of
other foods, maybe some waxworms or superworms perhaps. That's good she has eaten a
little here lately.
They can sometimes get picky with their eating, most likely just boredom. It is possible that
she could be developing eggs but not sure. When they do usually they will gain some weight,
then stop eating right before they lay. Also, when they come out of brumation, it can sometimes
take a little while to zap totally out of it.
You can try some bee pollen on her greens to see if that helps out her appetite some, too.

Tracie

Not sure if you intended me to quote you but I haven't heard back since my last post.

In your experience, what is the longest time you've seen a dragon take to come out of brumation? If that's the issue with Lyrica, then I'd say it's a bit odd for a bearded dragon to wait four months to completely come out of brumation.

Even then, within those four months, she would be running all around her cage or my room non-stop. She wouldn't eat at all but she was super active. Then early June, she got really lazy all of a sudden and seemed a bit lethargic for about a week. Now she's somewhat back to her normal self, but she still runs around like crazy sometimes.

A bit of an update since my last post(please read it, it has pics and everything), she has been eating every day, but only one to three roaches on average. She eats them with gusto, though. Her poops have been somewhat regular. I can usually expect her to poop every other day or so. They don't smell super bad and they're pretty much identical to the pic I posted before. About half of the roaches I give her are dusted with calcium, just to give her a bit of a boost since it's been a while.

She hasn't lost any weight since she's been eating, but she hasn't gained any either. She's staying at 405 grams. She still drinks water just fine, fresh filtered water from the syringe. She usually eats a bite of veggies at least once a day, mostly collard greens.

She has a decent belly, fat pads are normal. No black bearding. She recently shed. Took her out to let my niece and nephews hold her (under my VERY WATCHFUL supervision). She walked around on their shoulders and on the back of the couch(I make them sit down if they want to hold her). She's usually alert most of the day, then gets lazy around six o-clock. Bedtime is at 8PM.
 
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